Preliminary Study of Time Banking Participation

Thailand will be entering full-scale aging society in 2021, when 20 % of population will be over sixty years old. This will cause significant societal changes, and it is very important that the country is prepared to deal with problems that may arise from aging society. Unfortunately substantial number of senior citizens are financially unprepared for retirement due to low financial literacy. An effective social welfare system is needed, which will require a large amount of financial support. An interesting approach to delivering social welfare is co-production which is a practice that involves public services and communities in the mutual deliveries of welfares. Time banking is an engagement practice which each member agrees to give and take credits for service. Time credits can be earned by providing services to those in need. Such system is a kind of co-production which can help build community relationship and complement social welfare system. Time banking can be applied to all generations, and it is especially suitable for aging society. This paper explores the interests in joining time banking among people living in Bangkok and vicinity. It investigates the respondents’ lifestyles, interests in joining time bank, and possible matching of interests. The results reveal existing gaps and may be used in further study for establishing time banking system.